Journey of a Hero
by VenomSpider33
Summary: On the Night of the Nine-Tails attack, Hiruzen sacrificed himself to seal the fox inside Naruto. Find out how Naruto's life changed with the presence of his parents in his life. NaruHina main pairing, others.
1. Chapter 1

**The Journey of a Hero**

**I double checked with my lawyer, and I do not own Naruto**

**Prologue**

Minato finished preparing the seal to seal the Nine-Tails inside of Naruto, his newborn son. He shared one last look with Kushina, tears in both their eyes. "Kushina, I'm sorry." He said, and started running through the hand signs when a giant monkey appeared behind him grabbing both his arms.

"NO!" A lone voice called out, and Minato and Kushina both turned to see Hiruzen Sarutobi walking towards them, the stress of the fight against the Nine-Tails evident on his face. "Minato, I cannot allow you to sacrifice yourself." He said, and started forming the hand signs.

"Hiruzen let me go! I'm his father, it is my place to-"

"It is because you are his father that I cannot allow you to do this!" Hiruzen said, interrupting Minato. "I devoted my life to this job, and to the village, and because of that, I pushed Asuma away, and watched him become a delinquent. When I choose you as my successor, it was because I saw your potential to surpass me not only as a Hokage, but as a father as well." He said, and Minato stopped struggling, and a weak smile appeared on his face.

"Thank you Hiruzen." He said, as Hiruzen finished the hand seals necessary, causing the Shinigami to appear behind him.

"Reaper Death Seal!" Hiruzen said, as the hand of the Shinigami reached out of him and grabbed half of the Nine-Tails' chakra, pulling it through Hiruzen. The rest of it flowed into Naruto, as an Eight-Tetragram Seal appeared on Naruto's stomach. Hiruzen dropped to his knees, the light slowly leaving his eyes. "Minato… Kushina… Tell Asuma… I'm sorry for not being there." He said, before he dropped dead. Minato slowly walked over to Hiruzen's body, closing the eyes of the eyes of the former Hokage. He then walked over to Naruto, picking him up and walking over to Kushina.

"Kushina, say hi to Naruto." He said.

**Uchiha Compound, one hour earlier.**

Itachi Uchiha watched as his parents left, and then looked at his sleeping baby brother, smiling at him. "Don't cry, Sasuke. Your big brother is here to protect you, no matter what happens." He said.

**The Village Hidden In the Rain, present time**

Three figures, one with piercings all over his face, spiky orange hair, and purple eyes that swirled in a ripple pattern, the other an attractive woman with blue hair and a piercing below her lip, the other had what appeared to be a Venus flytrap coming out of his body, with one half of his face black and the other white, watched as the air in front of them seemed to swirl, spitting out a man with a cracked mask and a hood over his face. "Did you manage to retrieve the Nine-Tails?" The man with the ripple-eyes asked.

The masked man growled as what was left of his mask continued to crack, walking over to a chest on the far side of the room. "No, the Fourth Hokage got in the way. The Third Hokage sacrificed himself to seal the Nine-Tails into the Fourth's newborn son." He said, as the rest of his mask crumbled away, he pulled an orange mask that seemed to swirl around the single eyehole. Putting it on, he looked towards the two. "We wait, and when the time is right, we will attack, taking the Tailed Beast. And when that happens, the world will once again fear the name, Madara Uchiha!" He said, as a bolt of lightning flashed, revealing a Sharingan eye through the one visible eyehole.

**Village Hidden in the Leaves**

The hospital was a bundle of activity, people being rushed in and out, and doctors rushing back and forth. Even people who had lesser injuries were doing their best to help anyway they could. That is what told Kakashi Hatake that the Will of Fire still burned strong in these people, despite all the damage done to the village. It would be in no time at all that the Village would be back to normal in no time. However, he was not here to check on the civilians. No, he was here to see someone he put in here, the guilt of that day replaying itself in his head.

**Flashback: 10 Months Ago**

"Kakashi, you have to kill me." Rin said, as Kakashi looked at his friend,

"No Rin. Just hang on for a little while longer until sensei arrives here." Kakashi said, not wanting to go through with Rin's request. "I promised Obito I would protect you no matter what, and I have no intention of breaking that promise." He said, as he charged up his Lightning Blade, running toward the last Hidden Mist Ninja. However, out of the corner of his Sharingan eye, he saw Rin start moving in front of him, and he realized what she was going to do. Everything that happened next seem to move in slow motion. Kakashi tried turning away from Rin to avoid hitting her, but he wasn't fast enough as the Lightning Blade managed to graze Rin, shearing off enough skin that he could see her ribs, and he charged right into the mist ninja, running through his heart. Kakashi turned back to Rin, seeing her bleeding out. His Sharingan then flared with extreme pain, so much that he had to close it, and he felt something warm and wet trickle down his face. Looking around, he could barely see Minato making his way over, "Sensei, quick! Hurry!" He yelled as Minato arrived next to him, and he was shocked to see his student with her ribs showing, and was even more shocked to see the seal on Rin's stomach.

"Kakashi, hold on tight. We're going home." Minato said, and he grabbed both Kakashi and Rin's shoulders, and in a flash they were back home.

**End Flashback**

Kakashi arrived at Rin's room, finding her reading a book. "Hey sleepy head. I see you're finally awake." He said, and she smiled, putting down the book. "Hard to believe you slept through all of that." He said, throwing her an eye smile.

"Yeah, well you try having a giant turtle sealed inside of you, and then tell me how light a sleeper you are." She joked, and Kakashi laughed. "How are Sensei and Ms. Kushina? " She asked.

"They're fine. They're son was born without any complications, except for, well you know." He said, and Rin nodded in understanding, knowing all too well what Kakashi was talking about.

"So what happened to it?" She asked, and Kakashi activated the room's privacy seals.

"Well, all I'm allowed to tell you is that he's a lot like you, if you catch my drift." He said, and Rin gasped.

"You mean sensei?" She asked, and Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah. From what he told me, sensei was about to sacrifice himself to seal I inside Naruto, and Lord Third took his place." He explained, and Rin looked at her hands. Kakashi choose then to change the subject, deactivating the privacy seals.

"Tell you what, how about after you get out of here, we get some lunch, my treat." He said, and Rin looked at him with a shocked expression on her face.

"You mean, like a-" She started, and Kakashi just smiled.

"We'll see where it goes from there." He said, as he got up and walked away, leaving a smiling Rin behind him.

**A/N: well, I hope you guys liked that. I included that Itachi and Sasuke scene because the relationship between the two is going to be one of the big points in Sasuke's character development. Sorry about there being no action, but that will come in later chapters. Just to clarify things: Hiruzen sacrificed himself to seal Kurama in Naruto, the Akatsuki are already planning the Tailed Beast Hunt, Rin survived, and yes Kakashi asked Rin on a date. Tootles!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: The Tale of Naruto Namikaze begins**

**A/N: In all honesty, I have literally no idea what possessed me to put in that Itachi and Sasuke scene. Anyways, Ibiki?**

**Ibiki: Wait for it. *Makes some poor bastard's leg twist the wrong way.***

**PB: Aghhhh! VenomSpider33 does not own Naruto, just any OC's that may pop up.**

It was a beautiful morning in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Birds were chirping, Ibiki's torture chamber was filled with the screams of the guilty, and all around the Village, this year's graduating class was preparing itself for their final exams. One house in particular, however, was rather noisy.

"Come on, Naruto, you're gonna use up all the hot water!" Said a girl with short red hair, blue eyes, and a round face (A/N:Imagine a younger Kushina with red hair.)

"In a minute Hitomi! Got to make sure I look nice and clean for my big test today." Naruto Namikaze said, and Hitomi walked into their parent's bedroom on the other side of the house, flushed the toilet, and smiled as Naruto's screams filled the household. She smiledvictoriously as Naruto came out of the bathroom. "Aw man, that's cold sis."

"Don't you mean hot?" She said, causing him to glare at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Calm down you two. Don't you know some people are still trying to sleep in?" Said Kushina. "Now come down and get some breakfast." She said, and her two children followed her into the kitchen. "Naruto, are you ready for your big test today?" She asked, and Naruto nodded eagerly.

"You bet mom! After today, I'll be one step closer to becoming a better Hokage than dad!" He said.

"A better Hokage than me, huh? Well, I'm looking forward to that day." Minato said as he entered the kitchen, still clad in his pajamas.

"Naruto, doesn't school start at 8:00?" Kushina said, and Naruto looked at the clock, seeing that it was already 7:45.

"Aw crap! See ya this afternoon guys!"He said, pulling on his signature orange jacket. _Aw man, why did I have to pick today to make sure I looked presentable? _He thought, moving as fast as his legs could carry him, running through the door of the academy and into his homeroom just as the final bell rang. "Made it." He panted out, and felt a sinister presence behind him. Turning around, he saw it was only Mizuki sensei. "Oh, hey Mizuki sensei! What's up?" He asked, and Mizuki just grinned, rather creepily I might add.

"Nothing Naruto. Why don't you go and take your seat, and we can start the tests." He said, and Naruto did as he asked. Unfortunately, the only open seat left was next to one Hinata Hyuga, who found herself turning red as Naruto sat next to her.

Alright class, we're going to start the exams at 10:00, so until then, start preparing yourselves." Iruka said, and he found himself looking at Naruto. _Naruto, please do well on this test. _ He thought, and before anyone knew it, two hours had gone by. "Alright, we're going by roll. First up is Shino Aburame." He said, and after Shino had performed the test, that was when Iruka's hell began.

"Oh please, Sasuke could do that way better than Bug Boy over there!" A pink-haired fan girl yelled.

"Sakura Haruno, quiet down this instant, or I will fail you!" Iruka said. However, Sakura had already light the fuse.

"Yeah, Sasuke is way better than Bug Boy!"

"Let Sasuke go now!"

"We want to see Sasuke!"

It continued like this for five minutes, until Iruka snapped. "Alright! If it will get you all to shut up, up next is Sasuke Uchiha!" He yelled, and said Uchiha sighed.

"Hn, whatever." He said, and most of the girls got hearts in their eyes. Sasuke performed the tests perfectly, causing all the fan girls to swoon.

"Alright next is…" And this continued for an hour, until Iruka got to the last student on the roster. "Finally, we have Naruto Namikaze." He said, prompting a few snide remarks from the students.

"Oh, the Hokage's son, who thinks he can be a ninja."

"Go home loser. Don't embarrass your parents anymore than you already have!"

"Everyone be quiet! Anyone else who talks to Naruto like that will be failed!" Iruka yelled.

"Don't worry Iruka sensei, when I'm Hokage, I'll make sure they regret it!" Naruto said, and Iruka started the test.

"Alright Naruto, first, throw these Shuriken at the target." He said, Naruto obliged, with most of the shuriken hitting the target. "Good, now please transform into your father." He said, and Naruto did that, which wasn't too hard as all he had to day was make himelf taller and take away the whisker marks. What came next however, proved to be Naruto's downfall. "Good, now please perform the clone jutsu." Iruka said, and Naruto audibly gulped.

_Crap, the Clone Jutsu is my worst jutsu! _He thought, starting to panic. _Calm down. Just take a deep breath, focus, and then… _"Clone Jutsu!" And out came a comically deformed version of Naruto, prompting the other students laughter.

"What a loser!"

"How can someone like YOU be related to a great ninja like your parents!"

"Even your sister can perform the clone jutsu!"

"You'll never be a genin, let alone Hokage!"

"Shut up! I will be Hokage! Just you wait and see! And when I am, you'll all be sorry!" Naruto yelled, storming back to his seat and putting his head on the desk.

"N-Naruto?" A soft voice said, and Naruto looked up to see Hinata talking to him. He had never really noticed her before, other than that she was the only girl who didn't grow her hair out when word spread that Sasuke liked girls with long hair. "I-I b-believe you'll b-be a-a great H-Hokage one d-day." She said, mustering all her willpower to keep from fainting.

"Really?" he asked, and she nodded. "Thanks Hinata! You know, the only people who have actually said that to me are my parents, my sister, and Iruka sensei!" He said, and Hinata blushed at his thanks. Whatever happiness he got from this conversation, however, were crushed when he saw all the kids showing their parents their new headbands. For some reason, he felt his eyes wander to Hinata, as he saw her walking away with a Hyuga he had seen her with a lot. He was shaken out of his thinking when he felt the same sinister presence he had felt that morning come up next to him, but again he only saw Mizuki. "Hey Mizuki sensei." He weakly said.

"Naruto, how would you like to retake the genin test?" Mizuki asked.

"What do you mean? I thought the only way to become a genin was to pass the Academy test" Naruto said.

"Well, that's the official word, but I like to give students who I fell have potential another chance. If they pass, I let them become genin. Not even the Hokage knows about it." Mizuki explained, and Naruto, the fool that he was, actually believed Mizuki.

"Really? What do I have to do?" The blonde failure asked.

"Well, first off, you can't tell anyone about this, especially not Iruka or your father." The teacher said.

"Why can't I tell anyone?"

"Because, don't you want to surprise your father when you become a ninja?" Mizuki said, and Naruto perked up at this. "Good, now come meet me in the forest outside the academy tonight, okay?" Naruto nodded that he understood, and Mizuki got that creepy ass grin again as he walked away. Unknown to the both of them, they were being watched by a lone figure.

_Brother, what have you gotten yourself into? _Thought Hitomi as she watched her brother converse with the teacher.

**A/N: Dun Dun Duuuunnnnn! Mizuki makes his move, and the NaruHina buildup begins! Tune in next chapter for the Mizuki Incident, and a look at how the village is different under the rule of Minato Namikaze. Adios, muchachos!**


	3. Mizuki Strikes

Chapter 2: Mizuki strikes

**VS: Alright, who wants to do the disclaimer?**

**Orihime: I will!**

**VS: Orihime, you're not in this fic, hell you're not even in the cannon of the show this fic is based on!**

**Orihime: I know, but I haven't had any screen time in my manga recently. Please? *Puts on puppy dog face***

**VS: Ok fine! Why do I always fall for puppy dog eyes?**

**Orihime: Yea! VenomSpider33 does not own Naruto, just any OC's that may show up!**

The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, sat behind his desk as one of his most trusted ninja finished his report. "Thank you, Kakashi. Job well done, as always." He said. "Hurry on home. I'm sure Rin's waiting for you." The teacher said to his student, as it was almost nighttime. Kakashi and Rin had started dating about a month after the Nine-Tails incident, and tied the knot about six years ago. Kakashi nodded and walked out the door, when all of a sudden a little red blur ran into the room.

"Daddy, I think something's wrong with Naruto." Hitomi said, and Minato looked at his daughter in confusion.

"What do you mean?" he asked, and Hitomi finished catching her breath.

"Well, I was gonna see if he wanted to get some ramen to cheer him up, but then I saw him talking to Mizuki-sensei…" She then went onto explain the conversation between her brother and his teacher. "And the whole time we were at Ichiraku's , he was acting strange, like he was thinking about something else." She finished, and Minato thought on this for a moment, before the seal on his desk that represented the door to his jutsu library changed from the kanji for 'locked' changed to the kanji for 'unlocked'. His eyes widened at this, and he quickly pulled out a slip of paper with a seal on it.

"Crow," He said, and an ANBU wearing a crow mask with black hair appeared in a plume of smoke." Take this to Kushina, and tell her what Hitomi told me." He said to Crow, who took the paper and jumped out the window.

**15 minutes later.**

Minato had gathered several chunin, jonin, and ANBU, and they all kneeled before him with Kushina standing behind him. "Everyone spread out and find Naruto and Mizuki. Iruka, I want you, Crow and Kushina to search the woods surrounding the house. Tenzo, you take three ANBU and search around the Academy. Everyone else, fan out around the village!" He said, and they all nodded in confirmation, spreading out around the village. 'Kushina, please make sure he gets back safe.' He thought, worried out of his mind for his eldest child.

**Naruto POV, five minutes before the seal on Minato's desk changed.**

Naruto looked behind him to make sure no one had followed him. He was worried Hitomi might have figured it out, but after a few minutes she seemed to not notice his uneasiness. Seeing he was not being followed, he made his way to the spot Mizuki had told him to meet earlier that day. 'Aw man, I'll pass this test, and make everyone sorry they laughed at me! Believe it!' He thought, arriving to see Mizuki waiting for him with two Fuma Shuriken strapped to his back. "Alright Mizuki Sensei, I'm ready to ace that test!" The blond said, and Mizuki got a sinister grin on his face.

"Glad you're up for it. Now, here's what I want you to do: I want you to retrieve a scroll for me." Mizuki said, and Naruto looked confused.

"But couldn't you just go to the library and get a scroll there?" He asked.

"Because, this scroll is locked up in your dad's personal jutsu library." If anything, this confused Naruto even more

"Why would you need something out of there? Even I'm not allowed to go inside there." Naruto said.

"This is a test of your infiltration, stealth, and information gathering skills. Passing this test proves you have the skills necessary to be a ninja." Mizuki said, and decided to add icing on the cake. "And if you get can get the scroll and learn one of the jutsu locked inside it, you pass!" And with that, any doubts Naruto had were now gone. Well, except for one.

"Wait, why couldn't I tell anyone about this? Doesn't Iruka sensei know?" Naruto asked.

"Because secretly, I think he's jealous of you and sabotaged your test." Naruto was taken aback by this.

"What do you mean? Why would he sabotage me?"

"Because, he can see your potential, and tried to keep you from passing to keep you away from your potential!" Mizuki said. Naruto still wasn't convinced, but something told him to believe the man. "Now, listen closely. Here's a description of the scroll I need."

**Twenty minutes later**

Naruto had managed to get into the library without a problem, but as soon as his foot touched the ground, he started hearing alarms sound in the distance. Fearing he had been caught, he grabbed a large scroll that looked like the one Mizuki had described to him, and bolted out the window he came in through, and stopped running to sit by a tree, pulling open the scroll. "All I need to do is learn one of these jutsu, and I'll be a full-fledged ninja!" He said out loud, and looked through the jutsu. All of them looked really difficult, but eventually he found one that interested him. "Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

**One Hour later**

Naruto heard a rustling behind him, and saw Iruka sensei appear behind him. "Iruka Sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, I should be asking you that! What are you doing?" The teacher asked.

"'m going to do what you kept me from doing in the first place! Believe it!" Naruto said, and Iruka looked confused.

"Kept you from doing? What are you talking about?" Iruka said, wondering what in the hell he was talking about.

"Mizuki-sensei told me all about how you tried to sabotage my test so I wouldn't become a better ninja than you, and he told me that if I could learn one of the jutsu in these scrolls, I'll become a ninja!" The poor fool yelled.

'Mizuki? What is he- oh no!' He thought, pushing Naruto out of the way just as he was hit by several kunai.

"I'm impressed you figured out where to go." A voice said, and Naruto looked up to see Mizuki standing there grinning evilly. "The scroll, Naruto. Give it to me!"

"Don't let him have it, Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life!" Iruka said.

"Don't listen to him Naruto! He just wants the scroll for his own-"

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A voice called out, and a large dragon made out of water tore through the forest, causing Mizuki to jump to another tree. Naruto looked towards where the dragon came through, and saw his mother standing there.

Mizuki cursed under his breath, things just got a whole lot more complicated, but then he got an idea on how to turn this in his favor. Turning to Naruto, he said "Even I you read the scroll, it will still be meaningless." He then got an even more sinister grin than before. "But I can tell you what it means!" He said, and Kushina's eyes widened, realizing what he was about to do.

"Mizuki don't!" She yelled, and he simply through a kunai with an explosive tag on it at her. She dodged, but when she landed on another branch, a sealing matrix appeared beneath her feet, as chains made out of the kanji for 'bind' wrapped themselves around her, restricting her movement.

'A Binding Seal? I can get out of this in a minute, but that's all he needs!' She frantically thought.

Mizuki turned back to Naruto. "Did you know that you were born on the night the Nine Tails attacked?"

"Yeah, so what? Everyone knows that!" Naruto said.

"And did you know that there's a decree saying no one can talk about exactly HOW your dad defeated the fox?" Mizuki said, drawing a reaction out of Naruto.

"A decree? I don't remember a decree like that." He said.

"That's because par of that decree was that everyone was told about it. Everyone... but YOU!" Mizuki said, getting a perverse pleasure out of the conversation.

"Except me? What law are you talking about?" Naruto said.

"NO!" Kushina yelled. She wanted to tell Naruto when the time was right, not like this.

Mizuki started laughing. "That no one must ever tell you... that what you really are... is that you are the Demon Fox!" He said, and like that, Naruto's world was shattered.

"W-What?" He stuttered out, and looked at his mother. "M-Mom... it's not true, is it?" He asked, and she wouldn't look him in the eyes, tears pouring down his face.

"It is true!" Mizuki said. "It was you who killed Iruka's family! It was you who destroyed the village! Until our hero, our beloved Fourth Hokage, your human host's father trapped you and sacrificed his only son to seal you in your body!"

"Stop it!" Kushina and Iruka yelled simultaneously.

"Since then, you've been made a fool by everyone in the village! Didn't you think it was strange how everyone in he village hated you despite the fact you were the Hokage's son!" Mizuki said, taking one of the fuma shuriken of his back and spinning it. "If they weren't so high and mighty and noble, even your parents and Iruka would admit that they hate you!" He said, throwing the shuriken at Naruto.

Time moved in slow motion for Kushina. The seal was proving to be more complicated than she thought, too complicated for someone like Mizuki to have made it. She watched the shuriken fly towards her son, and closed her eyes, silently praying for a miracle. Her prayers went unanswered, as she heard the sickening sound of the shuriken hitting flesh.

**A/N: Don't hate me because I cut off right here! This chapter is the first of two I plan on posting today.**


	4. Revelation

Chapter 3: Revelation

**VS: You guys know the drill, I don't own Naruto. Wish I did though.**

Naruto felt something sticky and wet drip onto his face. He had closed his eyes when he saw the shuriken fly towards him. He was wondering of this was what being dead felt like when he heard what sounded like someone coughing directly above him, and when he opened his eyes, he wished that he had died, because kneeling above him was Iruka, the shuriken imbedded into his back. "I-Iruka Sensei? W-Why?" Naruto managed to stutter out, and Iruka weakly smiled.

"Because... I would never allow any of my students to die... especially you!" He weakly said.

"But I thought you hated me!" Naruto said, and Iruka just chuckled.

"It's true, that when your father assigned me as your home room teacher 2 years ago, I was no different than any of the villagers. I hate you for what the Fox did to my parents. But as I got to know you, I started to see you for YOU, not as the Hokage's son or as the fox, but as Naruto Namikaze, a hard worker, a class clown, a person who in my opinion should be the Top Genin, a child with the potential to surpass even his father!" Iruka said. "In fact... now that I look at it, I see as the little brother I never had!" He said, and Naruto somehow found the courage to back out from beneath Iruka just as the Chunin collapsed

"Naruto!" Kushina yelled as she finally broke free of the seal, and then faced Mizuki. "I'm gonna make you pay for that, you bastard." She said, and started to go through hand signs. "Water Style: Water-"

"NO!" Naruto yelled, as he stood up.

"Naruto, what are doing? Get Iruka and go!" She yelled, but Naruto stood his ground.

"You bastard. You hurt Iruka Sensei, lied to me, and tried to kill me! I'm gonna make you hurt for that!" He yelled, and crossed his middle and index fingers. Kushina gasped when she saw that sign.

'It couldn't be.' she thought.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, and one giant poof of smoke later, the forest was filled with hundreds of Naruto's.

"Attack!" They all said at once, charging at Mizuki.

'Shadow Clones? But even Minato can only make about thirty at once!' Kushina thought as she watched her son beat up his teacher, and then she smiled. 'Of course, it's because of Kurama that he has such large reserves. I told Minato that Shadow Clones would have been perfect for Naruto at least a hundred times, but did he listen?' She thought. She could do nothing to hide her pride as he finished beating the ever-loving crap out of Mizuki. He turned towards, smiled as all his clones dispersed, and then promptly fell over unconscious.

The Next Day

Naruto had been sleeping the whole day, as was to be expected when one creates hundreds of Shadow Clones on their first try. Waking up, he heard voices echoing down the hallway. Walking down the hall, he could start to make out what the voices were saying.

"He should be waking up right about now." One of the voices said, and Naruto recognized the voice as Rin, one of his favorite people in the world.

"Thank you Rin. We appreciate what you've done." He recognized that voice as his dad's.

"Don't mention it. See ya later Sensei."

Right after that last sentence, Naruto heard the door open and close, meaning that Rin must have left. Walking into the Living room, he saw both his parents waiting for him.

"Naruto, take a seat. We need to talk." Minato said, and Naruto knew that tone of voice. It was the tone Minato used when either Naruto or Hitomi had gotten caught doing something they weren't supposed too and were about to be punished. Naruto considered running, but then he remembered what Mizuki said about him being the Nine Tailed Fox, and decided that he would get the answers for the questions that were in his mind. Taking a seat, he braced himself for the scolding of his life.

"Naruto Namikaze, not only did you break into my Jutsu library, but stole the scroll containing every Jutsu in the village. As both your father and as the Hokage, I have one thing to say to you." Minato said, walking over to Naruto and raising his hand, causing Naruto to shut his eyes. Minato and Kushina had never hit their children, but with what he did, Naruto figured he deserved it. He braced himself, but was pleasantly surprised when he felt a hand on his head. Opening his eyes, he saw his father standing there, a smile full of pride on his face. "Good job!" He said, and Naruto was confused.

"Wait-you're not mad at me?" Naruto asked, wondering why he wasn't getting the scolding of his life.

"Of course not! Not only did you stop Mizuki from getting the Forbidden Scroll, but you also managed to pull off the Shadow Clone Jutsu, a technique that most Chunin are unable to perform!" Minato proudly said, but then his features fell. "I suppose you want to know about the Nine Tails, don't you?" He asked, and Naruto nodded. "I suppose it's time we told you." He said, and started massaging his temples. "We've thought about how we're gonna tell you for the past 12 years. We've thought it through so-"

"How about the truth?" Naruto said, and Kushina took over.

"Well, I suppose I would be easiest to go back to the beginning, about 1000 years ago, when a man known as the Sage of the Six Paths defeated the Ten Tails." She said, and Naruto wondered what an old bed time story had to do with the Nine Tails. "But what isn't in the story is that the Sage only managed to defeat the Ten Tails by sealing it inside himself. When the Sage began to die of old age, he split the Ten Tails into 9 Tailed Beast. Centuries later, Tailed Beast began to be sealed into human vessels, known as Jinchuriki. All the major villages have at least one." She explained.

"But how does this explain what Mizuki said?" Naruto asked.

"Because, I used to be the Nine Tails Jinchuriki." She said, causing Naruto's jaw to drop.

"What-but-why?" Naruto asked, shocked that his mother used to host one of the most vile demons in all recorded history.

"I was born in the now-destroyed Hidden Whirlpool Village. The most prominent clan in that village was the Uzumaki Clan, and we were famed throughout the world for our knowledge in sealing Justus. However, it was because of this that at the beginning of the Third Shinobi War that several of the major Villages viewed us as a threat, and launched an attack on The Village that wiped it out. A few survivors were scattered around the world. By that time, I was fortunate enough to have left for the Hidden Leaf to enroll in the Academy. Even among our clan, I had special chakra, and because of that I was chosen by the previous Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails, Mito Uzumaki-Senju, the wife of the First Hokage, to replace her. After that, I fell in love with your father, we got married, and I was pregnant with you!" She said, and then Minato took over.

"When a female Jinchuriki is pregnant, the chakra that is normally directed at the seal is instead directed towards the growing baby. When she goes into labor, the seal is at its weakest. Because of that, everything was going perfect. Your mother had been moved into a secure location outside the village, with myself, two medics, and ANBU guarding the perimeter. And then, you were born! It was the happiest day of my life. But then... HE appeared. A man wearing a mask broke in, killed the medics, and kidnapped you. I managed to save you, but in the confusion, he managed to kidnap your mother and release the Nine Tails. He possessed a Sharingan, like the one used by the Uchiha Clan, and used it to control the Nine Tails and unleash it on the village. We fought, and I managed to wound him and sever his connection with the Nine Tails. To this day, I don't know whether he died from his injuries or survived. Maybe I'll never know, but in the end, there was only one option that would enable me to protect both my family, and the Village: seal the Nine Tails inside of you. It would have required that I sacrifice myself in order to do it, and I had no doubt in my mind, not caring I you hated me for it, as long as it would enable you to live your life. But then the Third Hokage intervened, performing the ritual himself, sealing the fox inside you." Minato finished.

Several minutes passed as Naruto digested this. His father had sealed the Nine Tailed Fox inside him. It explained the nightmares he'd suffered as a child, why he always felt a burning sensation whenever he used chakra.

"But why did you tell the whole village I was the host?" Naruto asked.

"Because, shortly after you were born, a Leaf Elder named Danzo Shimura wanted to take you into his division of ANBU and make you into a weapon." Minato said, and

Naruto scratched his head.

"Danzo... Shimura? Where have I heard that name before?" He thought out loud.

"Do you remember the Uchiha Massacre?" Minato asked, and Naruto nodded, shuddering at the memory.

"He was the one who carried it out by ordering his division, known as ROOT, to eliminate the Uchiha Clan, and as such I banished him. Anyways, when I refused, he leaked your status to the civilians, as I intended for only Jonin to know. Danzo was angered that I had refused him not inly once, but twice, and got his revenge." Minato explained.

"Wait a minute, twice? I thought I was the only one?" Naruto asked.

"We have another Jinchuriki, the Three Tails." Kushina said.

"Well, who is it?"

"It's Rin." Minato said, drawing a jaw drop out of Naruto.

"Aunt Rin? But how?" Naruto asked.

"Back in the War, Rin was captured by the Hidden Mist Village, and made into the Three Tails container. We managed to rescue her, and Kakashi and I managed to rescue her." Minato explained. That had been the wake up call Kakashi needed in order to take the first step in his relationship with Rin. "Naruto, I have a question for you." He said.

"Sure dad, what is-"

"Do you hate me?" Minato said. Naruto had to think this through. Did he hate his father? Sure he had sealed a demon inside him, but he was still his father. The same man who had helped him with his homework, his Taijutsu, and managed to always balance being a Hokage and being a father. Sure he hadn't helped Naruto with the clone Jutsu, but he was a very busy man. The same man who used to comfort Naruto after the nightmares he had as a child every so often. He made up his mind.

"No, I don't." He answered, shocking Minato. He had been so prepared to hear his son hated him, in fact he made peace with the possibility that may happen. "You may not have wanted to do it, but you had to do it in order to save the village! I'm proud to call you my old man!" Naruto said.

Minato smiled. He had a feeling that he already had the answer to his next question. "Alright Naruto, next question: Knowing all this, does this change your dream to become Hokage?" He asked, and Naruto got a grin they both knew all too well.

"No, it doesn't. This just means that I'll have to try twice as hard, and if that doesn't work, I'll have to work three times as more!" He said, and Minato took off his forehead protector, and tied it around Naruto's forehead.

"Then I, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, proudly declare you, Naruto Namikaze, an official Genin o the Village Hidden in the Leaves!"

A/N: and done with the second of the two uploads I am doing today! No flames, but constructive criticism is always appreciated.


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